The main application of the device incorporating the subject invention is for housing newspaper or similar matter on a temporary basis. Other pertinent applications comprise drop boxes, wherein one must take out the contents after a deposit-drop therein of specific articles. The device incorporating the subject invention additionally possesses other uses such as used for temporary storage of items intended for subsequent withdrawal. In this regard, while the main application of this invention is directed to the construction of off-road receptacles for newspapers used primarily in rural or suburban areas, substantially similar other types of devices can utilize the principles thereof.
The type of newspaper receptacles of the type used primarily in rural or suburban areas differ substantially from those in older urban areas. Specifically, in suburban areas of moderate or large-sized cities, newspaper receptacles are usually appended directly to a dwelling, or mailboxes are used, and as such they are generally offset from the road, generally distal from the roadway on which the dwelling is located. On the other hand, newspaper receptacles used in rural areas and suburban areas are usually affixed above the ground on a vertical post positioned adjacent the road, comprising a hollow cylinder, with one end open. In this regard, the newspaper box entranceway is almost always faced towards the doorway. Usually the entranceway is emplaced extremely close to the edge of the roadway travelled by the delivery vehicle so that the deliverer can easily place the newspaper in the box. Frequently, the adjacent roadway is a heavily-traversed throughfare, with vehicles passing at moderate to high speeds a relatively few feet from the receptacle entrance door. One can readily ascertain the relative danger to the patron by the proximity of the mailbox to the roadway traffic, in view of the fact that the user must step close to the roadway traffice in order to extract the newspaper from the receptacle. As can be seen, the potential for vehicular-pedestrian mishaps is substantial under such circumstances, and the threat of serious injury is a very real danger. The danger lies in the fact that the patron, who seeks to extract the newspaper from the receptacle must step in front of the box to open the doorway and pull the paper out accordingly. This process usually entails the need to stand in front of the receptacle or close thereto. Such a feature clearly presents a potential danger by reason of the close proximity to the roadway and the traffic thereon.
This invention is directed as a means to overcome the foregoing problems and devise a receptacle which avoids or aleviates, to a substantial degree, the potential for highway accidents involving persons who are extracting newspapers from a receptacle. The following objects of the invention are directed accordingly.